IPS excellence once again!

IPS excellence once again!

Our Manchester hub has been named as WWTW's second IPS Centre of Excellence for Veterans

Walking With The Wounded has been named
as an IPS Centre of Excellence for Veterans by the Centre for Mental Health for
the second time this year, this time for the employment service it provides in
Manchester. The award recognises the IPS service
provided to veterans by WWTW in Manchester, in partnership with the Military Veterans’ Service (part of the Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust).

WWTW began working alongside the Manchester veterans' mental
health team in January 2016. The aim was to support ex-servicemen and women who were seeking
support for their mental health, but who were also unemployed, underemployed or at risk of
losing employment. Since then WWTW has
successfully supported 59 veterans into sustainable employment and secured 71 paid employment outcomes.

What is IPS? IPS stands for Individual Placement and Support and it's an approach that Walking With The Wounded use to support people with mental health difficulties into employment. It
involves intensive, individual support, placement in paid employment, and
time-unlimited in-work support for both the employee and the employer.

There is overwhelming international evidence
that IPS is much more effective than other traditional approaches (such as vocational
training) in successfully getting people into work. Evidence shows that IPS has the ability to minimise the harmful
effects of long term sickness absence, improve quality of life and wellbeing,
lead to better health outcomes,promote recovery and aid rehabilitation.

“We are extremely proud to
have achieved the IPS status for the North West. We have been working to
achieve this status for over a year and the end result has been down to the
determination and professionalism of all involved,” said

Gary Lamb, North West Regional Lead at Walking With The Wounded.

Walking With The Wounded's Manchester office is located on Canada Street, the site of the DIY SOS 'Big Build' in 2015. Click here to find out more.

John
Henstock from the Military Veterans’ Service, Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust also commented: “I am delighted that WWTW
and Military Veterans’ Service has achieved Centre of Excellence status. The
WWTW Employment Advisor, who is embedded within our specialist NHS Veterans
mental health service has developed excellent relationships with local
employers and other agencies to support our veterans into meaningful paid
employment.”

All of WWTW's Employment Advisors have been trained in the principles of IPS, and where the
charity is embedded in mental health teams, the charity is pursuing Centre of
Excellence recognition.

Matt from Manchester is a
veteran who has been supported via the IPS service. WWTW Employment Advisor, Tom, explains Matt’s
journey...

Matt was referred to me at the
beginning of January 2018 for support around gaining and sustaining a job. Matt
had not worked for quite some time but had been receiving clinical support from
Military Veterans Service, in which he was progressing positively.

Matt had always wanted to be in
the Army and did not see a career outside of the military. This made things
extremely difficult when looking into alternative careers now that his military
service had come to an end.

Matt had been applying for many
different jobs; not receiving feedback or being invited for interview due to
not matching the skill-set required. Together, Matt and I spoke about his
skill-set and Matt’s aspirations and interests – trying to match those from his
military career to a new civilian career.

Matt is, and has always been,
interested in the security sector and has a vast amount of experience due to
his military background. Matt is also very confident in dealing with people
face-to-face. A job working as security at a Football Club was advertised and
Matt and I saw this as a great opportunity to use both the security and
face-to-face contact skills that Matt had.

Matt was successful in gaining
this employment and is currently still employed and receiving follow up
support.

Matt has had a fantastic turnaround from being
unemployed for quite some time and receiving clinical support, to gaining and
sustaining employment.

Related News

Walking With The Wounded (WWTW) has announced the appointment of Paul Schofield as their new IPS Employment Advisor. He will support service users from Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust and the Veteran Mental Health Network Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (TILS), working closely with regional partner Birmingham Royal British Legion (RBL) pop-in centre.

Established in 2010, Walking With The Wounded supports a pathway for vulnerable veterans to re-integrate back into society and sustain their independence. At the heart of this journey is employment. You can help by making a donation or fundraising for the charity.

Walking With The Wounded is registered as a charity in England and Wales, number 1153497 and Scotland, number SC047760